PROVO — Just three games into the West Coast Conference season, the Saint Mary’s men’s basketball team has yet to have anything come easy when it comes to wins and losses.
That trend certainly won’t change tonight, as the Gaels meet BYU at the Marriott Center.
BYU is a glossy 4-0 in WCC play, with a pair of road wins under their belt. The Cougars (14-4 overall) notched a 82-64 road win over Santa Clara on Saturday. Five Cougars scored in double figures, led by Tyler Haws with 24 points. Matt Carlino scored 13 points and added eight assists.
Haws has been BYU’s scoring leader this season, averaging 21.3 points per game to go with 5.1 rebounds per game. Forward Brandon Davies hasn’t been far behind, averaging 18.4 points and 7.7 rebounds a contest.
Carlino has also come on since conference play started, averaging 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 3.5 steals in four games. Carlino has been suffering back spasms and may be limited tonight.
Coach Dave Rose is one win away from 200 career victories. A win tonight would give him that milestone.
Saint Mary’s (13-4, 2-1 WCC) enters the game fresh off a hard-fought 78-72 win over San Francisco on Saturday. In the victory, Matthew Dellavedova scored 19 points to lead four Gaels in double figures.
The game was symbolic of the entire WCC season to date in that it took a late push to finally put the Dons away. The Gaels went 24 for 27 from the line, their second-best percentage in a single game all season.
Dellavedova, a native of Maryborough, Victoria, Australia, continues to re-write the SMC record books as the 2012-13 season crosses the midway point. He ranks first all-time in assists, 3-point makes and 3-point attempts. He is fourth in scoringand fifth in steals.
• UTES TAKE ON WSU COUGARS: Washington State (9-7, 0-3) and Utah (8-8, 0-4) are each in search of its first Pac-12 win of the season as the Cougars host the Utes tonight at Beasley Coliseum.
The Cougars have lost the last two meetings and 13 of the last 14 games between the two teams.
A big part of Utah’s success this season has been its team defense. Larry Krystkowiak’s Utes (58.4 ppg) are allowing eight points less than the national average (66.3).
Since league play has started, Utah is tops in the league averaging only 9.2 turnovers per game. But Utah dropped its first four Pac-12 contests this season and is looking for its first league win since joining the conference last year.
Washington State features Brock Motum is second in the league and 18th in the nation in scoring at 19.8 points per game.
Jason Washburn has notched double-doubles in three of the four conference games, averaging 15.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. He currently leads the league in rebounding and ranks eighth in scoring and third in blocks during conference play.
Utah has struggled from beyond the arc. In three of Utah’s four Pac-12 games, the Utes have shot less than 27 percent from 3-point range (18-62, 29 percent). Utah has failed to crack 25 points during the first half of any of their four Pac-12 games.
Top 25 Capsules
• WISCONSIN 64, NO. 2 INDIANA 59: At Bloomington, Ind., Ryan Evans had 13 points and seven rebounds, and Traevon Jackson added 11 points as Wisconsin upset No. 2 Indiana to take sole possession of the Big Ten lead.
The Badgers (13-4, 4-0) have won seven straight and beat two Top 15 opponents in four days. They now have 11 straight wins over the Hoosiers and five straight in Bloomington.
Cody Zeller scored 18 of his 21 points in the first half to lead Indiana (15-2, 3-1), which had a six-game winning streak and an 18-game home winning streak both end. Christian Watford added 11 points as the Hoosiers finished with fewer than 60 points for the first time this season.
• NO. 12 CREIGHTON 79, NORTHERN IOWA 68: At Omaha, Neb., Doug McDermott scored 21 of his 31 points in the second half and No. 12 Creighton pulled away for a win over Northern Iowa.
The Bluejays (17-1, 6-0 Missouri Valley Conference) won their 11th straight game and are off to their best start in program history.
Anthony James scored a season-high 25 points and Jake Koch added 19 to lead Northern Iowa (9-9, 2-4).
McDermott had his second straight 30-point game and fifth of the season.
• ST. JOHN’S 67, NO. 20 NOTRE DAME 63: At New York, JaKarr Sampson scored 14 of his 17 points in the first half and St. John’s handed No. 20 Notre Dame its second straight loss.
The Red Storm (10-7, 2-3 Big East), who had lost two straight and four of five, had a 12-point lead midway through the second half and despite giving it all up, they managed to score the game’s final six points for the win, their third straight over the Fighting Irish.
Eric Atkins had a season-high 21 points for Notre Dame (14-3, 2-2).
Comments